The Best Tinder-Like Dating Apps

Five Tinder-Like Dating Apps That Are Actually Better Than The Original

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Unless you've been living under a rock for the past half decade, you'll be aware of Tinder by now, and in fact you're probably intimately familiar with how it works. (If you're not, check out the AskMen Guide to Tinder ASAP.) The app is used by tens of millions of people, and, for many of us, it's the first option we turn to when it comes to app-based dating. The app's name has become virtually synonymous with getting back in the dating saddle ("I've downloaded Tinder again!" or "I've been thinking of getting on Tinder") and its cultural ubiquity alone means that it will continue to be a favored choice.

But Tinder isn't the only option for would-be daters who prefer not to leave the comfort of their own phone. If you're becoming disillusioned with your experience after tapping the flame logo on your mobile, check out the following apps — they're the five best alternatives to Tinder available on the market:

The Best Tinder-Like Dating Apps

Bumble

Bumble distinguishes itself from Tinder in one key way: it aims to be more welcoming to women. The main mechanism through which it achieves this is as follows: once you have matched with a female user, she must message first — you won't be able to — and if she doesn't, the match will disappear in 24 hours. This additional protection against weak "hey sexi" openers means that the app is gaining the attention of an increasing number of women — and if Bumble is where all the women are, it's probably where you want to be.

It's fair to say that Bumble is Tinder's fiercest competition. Just two years after it launched, Bumble reported that it was matching about 4 million people a day and seeing around 220 million swipes. Those aren't Tinder-level numbers — at the same stage in its lifecycle, Tinder had a reported 12 million users and was seeing a billion daily swipes — but Bumble is hot on Tinder's heels in terms of user numbers — and well worth a try if all the unresponsive women on Tinder are starting to wear thin.

Coffee Meets Bagel

CMB absolutely cleaned up in its AskMen review, garnering a whopping overall score of 9.3/10 due to its quality-over-quantity ethos and friendly, non-seedy feel. This app is a better fit for users who are looking to date seriously than those who are just seeking a casual hookup, although the latter is still certainly possible. It caters for the former group by linking like-minded people with similar social circles by matching users based on their friends-of-friends on Facebook.

CMB seeks to make your app-based dating experience efficient and pleasant, so it limits your potential matches to about 30 per day. Similarly to Bumble, there's a time-limited chat section where chat opportunities expire, which helps to get things off the ground quickly and avoid the problem of dead-end matches. Perhaps the best benefit of all, though, is the fact that CMB is one of the only dating platforms with more female members than males — no wonder the app's user base is growing at such a rapid clip.

The Grade

The Grade is another strong option, gaining an impressive overall rating of 8/10 in our review, including 9/10 for the important categories of 'quality of members' and 'ease of use'. The main factor setting The Grade apart from the competition is that it actively filters out creepy, time-wasting users, like men who send unsolicited dick pics or women who match with you but never respond to your messages.

It achieves this clean-out via a grading system — does the name make sense now? — based on a user's profile, messaging behaviors and feedback from other users, and offenders who are consistently annoying enough to receive an F grade are banished from the kingdom. Good riddance!

Happn

Happn is a dating app that matches you with people in your immediate physical vicinity — walking past you on the street, for example, or riding opposite you on the subway — by carefully calibrating your location and showing you other Happn users who are nearby. While this might sound a little creepy given that it's generally not advisable to hit on women in everyday public settings, women on Happn are a slightly different case: they've opted in to the service, which means they've signaled a willingness to be approached — on the app, of course.

The key benefit Happn has over Tinder is that it skews towards matching you with women with whom you already have something in common: women who live in your building, like the same bars as you or attend your gym or improv class. So, when you end up seated opposite each other after securing a dinner date, you'll immediately have something to talk about.

Hinge

Another strong contender in the Tinder-style app market is Hinge. It's like CMB in that it matches you with people already within your wider social circle — yep, you guessed it, via the ol' friends-of-friends on Facebook trick — and it's beautifully designed and easy to use.

We didn't love Hinge as much as Coffee Loves Bagel, its closest competitor, largely because it allows users as young as 13 on the app, which is an inconvenience for older users. However, if you're a teen looking to meet girls your own age, this is probably the best Tinder alternative for you.

What About Paid Dating Options?

While free dating apps like all of the above are obviously easier on the pocket than paid dating platforms, there's often much more added value and ease of use on platforms that require you to front up a modest amount of cash. Paid sites by their nature filter out the bots, catfish and time-wasters that characterize free apps, and they guarantee a more efficient, pleasant dating experience.

If you're sick of the chaos and disappointment of free dating apps and want to try a paid option, you could give Zoosk a try. It's the highest-rated paid option AskMen has reviewed and offers a truly deluxe dating experience — it's full of engaging, friendly singles and features incredible ease of use. With its level of sophistication and high-quality pool of potential matches, we know you won't struggle to meet top-notch women on Zoosk, and it's absolutely worth the very reasonable price you'll pay for it.

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